


Eke

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [70]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7263304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Respect matters more than one thinks.</p><p>The most amazing Cover art by <a href="/works/12266313">Red_Pink_Dots</a>. She deserves major kudos: <img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Eke

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lillithtauri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillithtauri/gifts).



> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 7/11/1999 for the word [eke](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/1999/07/11/eke).
> 
> eke  
> To gain or supplement with great effort or difficulty -- used with 'out'.  
> To increase or make last by being economical --used with 'out'.
> 
> I'm going to dedicate this one to lillithtauri. Hope it also rings true with her.
> 
> This is my response to end of season 8 and beginning of season 9. I played with the season 8 timeline a bit to make things fit, so just go with it. It's a little dark or depressing depending on how you look at things.
> 
> Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism greatly appreciated.

# 

Eke

He told Ziva that it was Brenda Bittner that was messing with his head and making him more serious than normal, but truthfully while he regretted the loss of life that was only an excuse he made for Ziva. In reality, he was tired of hiding himself as the butt of jokes and pretending that he didn’t have skills. He wanted to show Ziva and McGee that he really did know how to do his job and he wasn’t just comedic effect. 

However, their reactions made it clear as day that any respect he got from them would have to be eked out. They didn’t actually respect him. They only respected Gibbs. Even when his skills and capabilities were shoved into their faces, they still didn’t think him capable. They didn’t think he could really do the job. It boggled his mind how they just ignored how capable he was and proved himself to be and merrily continued to believe that he was just there as a joke.

It wasn’t the first time he’d proved he was good at his job nor would it be the last, but it was the time that stood out in his head as irrevocable proof that they did not respect him. They were only concerned about being shown up and that he wasn’t joking any more. They didn’t care that he did a good job and solved the case faster. In fact, all they cared about was him going back to being "normal" so that they could go back to dismissing him as a joke again. 

It wasn’t long after that that they needed to get voice prints to try and match them to a suspected terrorist. Of course, he was chosen to go. Of course, he did his job and worked his ass off. And when he got back to the car, the final nail in his coffin had been sealed. 

They’d turned him off for over 2 hours. They really didn’t care about him. Not even as a human being. He could have died and they wouldn’t have given a damn about him or even searched for him. 

In fact, if he didn’t return they would probably just tell Gibbs that he must have gotten distracted with one of the ladies and that it was not their fault or their job to be his keeper. They likely would have been exceedingly excited about the fact that finally one of them, one of the more deserving as they would say, would be allowed to be SFA. They would be happy if he died. 

He didn’t say anything, but after that case he no longer trusted Ziva or McGee to look out for him. No, the only person he trusted at all was Gibbs and ever since Mexico he barely even trusted him as Gibbs had returned a changed man.

That was the reason when Jarvis offered him the undercover assignment that he didn’t turn it down. He didn’t see the point. It wasn’t like any of his so called friends or family would even care if he died. They’d made it abundantly clear that he was on his own. So a risky undercover op wasn’t a big deal. He wouldn’t be missed anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> [Fatuous](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7826533) follows after this one.
> 
> Prompts are currently open. If you'd like to prompt me, please do so [here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/NCIS_Prompts_2017/profile). Note you have to be an ao3 member to do this. 
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes.
> 
> This is a new thing I'm trying, so please leave feedback here if you think it could be improved.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for Getting what they Deserve serie](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12266313) by [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots)




End file.
